As coronavirus restrictions begin to lift around the US, Costco employees discuss 5 things they want warehouse club members to know

'We will still be essential employees when this is pandemic is over," one employee of 10 years told Business Insider.

They said that they hoped that members would continue to "treat us with respect" even after the coronavirus pandemic comes to an end.

Another employee of three years said they worried over whether members would continue to take employees' safety and orders seriously in the wake of the virus.

"In the beginning everyone took it seriously," they said. "After a couple of months, more and more members came without masks and gloves and did not follow social distancing."

One employee from Minnesota told Business Insider that they have become "a lot bossier" thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I have no qualms about telling members they need to stand behind the plexiglass, or that they can't stand so close to me and they need to wear their mask properly," they said.

The Costco employees who spoke with Business Insider said that most members remained respectful of workers despite the stressful atmosphere.

One Costco worker from Minnesota told Business Insider that they found members at their warehouse "mostly kind and understanding" people who seemed to understand "that we were doing the best we could to restock the shelves."

They added that while they encountered the occasional shopper "who could not be calmed down" — as well as one customer who "threatened to call the state capital and the local news station" over a toilet paper shortage — the vast majority of members remained patient despite the new store policies and occasionally empty shelves.

Costco employees say they won't soon forget the experience of working at stores flooded with shoppers engaging in panic-purchasing.

One employee from Canada said that at the height of the pandemic, they saw "the same member shop multiple times a week" despite government-issued requests that citizens remain home and only head out for necessary shopping trips.

"The whole point coming to Costco is to stock up for a few weeks to come not for a weekly shopping ritual or excuse to leave home," the Canadian Costco employee said.

"Hoarding is not why we ran out of toilet paper," an employee of 10 years said. "We ran out of toilet paper because the retail industry is not set up for everyone in the country to go shopping at the same time."

The employee said that their warehouse is typically able to "stagger" its orders of product, because shoppers "naturally stagger their consumption of goods."

"When everyone comes at once, we only have enough to deal with what we're used to," the Costco employee said.

The Costco workers who spoke with Business Insider largely praised their employer for its handling of the coronavirus crisis.

An employee who has worked at Costco for three years said that their warehouse has had "numerous letters posted on the walls for employees to read about any updates from head corporate people explaining what's new and exciting."

"They basically told us if you don't feel safe to go to work, you don't have to," they said.

One employee of 10 years said that Costco allowed high risk employees to remain home for weeks without pay. The company also bumped warehouse workers' pay by $2 during the pandemic.

Some employees say that Costco can still do more, however. The employee who has worked at the chain for a decade added that they wished that the company would consider "the mental and physical toll" of "working during the pandemic."

"I would gladly — and I know most of my coworkers would, too — give up that $2 bump in order to have a higher accrual of personal and sick time," they said. "We are now able to roll over as much sick time as possible – normally we can only roll over 40 hours on our work anniversary — but what good does that do us if we have none to roll over?"